RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 5, No. 171, 01-09-10

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RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 5, No. 171, 10 September 2001

CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] ARMENIAN OPPOSITION PARTIES DEMAND PRESIDENT'S IMPEACHMENT...

[02] ...CONVINCING HIM TO SEEK RE-ELECTION

[03] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT OUTLINES PRIORITIES

[04] AZERBAIJAN, RUSSIA TO SIGN AGREEMENT ON CONTROVERSIAL RADAR

[05] AZERBAIJANI SECURITY MINISTER ENDS VISIT TO IRAN

[06] GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT CHAIRMAN OFFERS TO RESIGN

[07] FORMER GEORGIAN COMMUNIST PARTY BOSS FORMS NEW POLITICAL

[08] OSCE TO EXPAND MONITORING OF GEORGIA'S BORDERS WITH NORTH

[09] AUDIT CHAMBER DETAILS FINANCIAL MISMANAGEMENT IN GEORGIAN

[10] GEORGIA REGISTERS 5 PERCENT GDP GROWTH

[11] OSCE QUERIES LEGALITY OF SENTENCE ON FORMER KAZAKH PREMIER

[12] IMPRISONED FORMER KYRGYZ OFFICIAL TAKES LEGAL ACTION AGAINST

[13] NEW HUMAN RIGHTS MOVEMENT FOUNDED IN KYRGYZSTAN

[14] MINISTER'S ASSASSINATION, BOMB BLAST CAST PALL OVER TAJIK

[15] IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER CUTS SHORT VISIT TO TAJIKISTAN

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[16] EU BACKS NEW PLAN FOR MACEDONIA...

[17] ...BUT NOT ON ITS FORM

[18] PUTIN, CHIRAC DISCUSS MACEDONIA

[19] MACEDONIAN ALBANIANS RETURN HOME

[20] MOLOTOV COCKTAIL BLASTS SERBIAN POLITICIAN'S CAR

[21] SERBIAN AUTHORITIES FIND ANOTHER MASS GRAVE

[22] ALBANIAN PRESIDENT APPROVES NEW CABINET

[23] ROMANIAN PREMIER EXPOUNDS ON AGREEMENT WITH IMF

[24] ROMANIA ENDS COMMEMORATION OF UNIFYING PRINCE

[25] ROMANIAN OFFICIAL SAYS ROYAL RESTITUTION CLAIM IS 'NO

[26] OSCE CONFERENCE ON ROMA DISCRIMINATION OPENS IN BUCHAREST

[27] ROMANIAN PREMIER SIGNALS CHANGE IN POLICY ON MOLDOVA

[28] MOLDOVAN NEGOTIATORS IN KYIV RETURN EMPTY-HANDED

[29] MOLDOVAN MAJOR DISMISSED FROM JCC

[30] BULGARIAN FOREIGN MINISTER OPTIMISTIC ON NATO, EU MEMBERSHIP

[31] ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH SUPPORTS EFFORTS TO MEND BULGARIAN

[32] BULGARIAN MUSLIM LEADER PRAISES COUNTRY'S TOLERANCE

[33] STATUE HONORING FORMER COMMUNIST LEADER REERECTED IN

[C] END NOTE

[34] CZECH REPUBLIC MOVES TO ABOLISH CONSCRIPTION, JOINS EUROPEAN

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] ARMENIAN OPPOSITION PARTIES DEMAND PRESIDENT'S IMPEACHMENT...

7 September the leaders of the People's Party of Armenia,

Hanrapetutiun, and the National Accord Front issued a joint

statement calling for the impeachment of President Robert

Kocharian, whom they accuse of violating the Armenian

Constitution, condoning terrorism, and precipitating the

country into a deep political, moral, psychological, and

socioeconomic crisis, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. The

statement also repeated earlier allegations that Kocharian

sought to sabotage the investigation into the October 1999

parliament shootings in order to prevent the identity of the

organizers from becoming known. The joint statement was read

by Artashes Geghamian, a leading member of the AHCh, at

Hanrapetutiun's first congress in Yerevan at which one of the

party's leaders, former Yerevan Mayor Albert Bazeyan,

declared that "the removal of the Kocharian regime and the

formation of a legitimate government is the main precondition

for the development of our country." Bazeyan stressed,

however, that Kocharian's ouster must be accomplished "by

constitutional means." LF

[02] ...CONVINCING HIM TO SEEK RE-ELECTION

factory on 8 September, Kocharian announced that the

opposition statement released the previous day had served to

demolish his earlier doubts over whether to seek re-election

in 2003, and that he has made up his mind to do so, RFE/RL's

Yerevan bureau reported. Kocharian criticized the

opposition's challenge as "filled with malice," adding that

"people with so much malice endanger the country by seeking

[to come to] power." LF

[03] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT OUTLINES PRIORITIES

forum on 7 September moderated by the Russian electronic

daily gazeta.sng, Kocharian listed as his top priority

creating "an economically strong Armenia," RFE/RL's Yerevan

bureau reported. But he acknowledged that it will not be

possible to achieve that objective without large-scale

foreign investment, according to Noyan Tapan. Kocharian

claimed that the economic climate has improved markedly over

the past two to three years, although he admitted that many

people have not yet experienced an improvement in their

living conditions. Kocharian stressed the importance for all

three South Caucasus states of ending ongoing conflicts. He

also said Armenia supports any steps aimed at establishing

civilized and good-neighborly relations with Turkey, Noyan

Tapan reported. LF

[04] AZERBAIJAN, RUSSIA TO SIGN AGREEMENT ON CONTROVERSIAL RADAR

During talks in Moscow on 7 September, Russian

Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov and his visiting Azerbaijani

counterpart Colonel General Safar Abiev succeeded in

narrowing outstanding differences over the terms and duration

for which Russia's radar facility at Gabala in Azerbaijan

will continue to operate, Russian agencies reported. The two

sides will sign an agreement formalizing those conditions

during President Heidar Aliev's upcoming visit to Moscow,

which is planned for late November. Ivanov told journalists

that it does not make sense to extend the lease for Gabala

only for a period of three to five years, as Baku has

proposed, according to AP. Russia wants the lease extended

for 20 to 25 years. Ivanov also said a joint Azerbaijani-

Russian commission has evaluated, and is inclined to reject,

allegations that the radar station poses a serious ecological

hazard. Ivanov also told journalists after his meeting with

Abiev that Russia is ready to help modernize Azerbaijan's

Soviet-era military hardware and to train Azerbaijani

servicemen "on easy terms." Abiev for his part said agreement

was reached on cooperation between the two countries' air

defense systems, Turan reported. LF

[05] AZERBAIJANI SECURITY MINISTER ENDS VISIT TO IRAN

Abbasov returned to Baku on 8 September after meeting in

Tehran on 6 September with Iranian President Mohammad

Khattami, Turan reported. Khattami affirmed his conviction

that "with understanding and mutual respect," it will prove

possible to resolve all contentious issues between the five

Caspian littoral states without infringing on their

legitimate interests. He also expressed satisfaction over the

visit, scheduled for 17 September, of President Aliev. An

Azerbaijani delegation made up of several government

ministers and oil and transport sector officials arrived in

Tehran on 8 September to prepare for that visit, during which

a total of 10 agreements are to be signed, according to ITAR-

TASS. LF

[06] GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT CHAIRMAN OFFERS TO RESIGN

failure of the majority Union of Citizens of Georgia (SMK)

parliament faction to elicit support for an open letter to

President Eduard Shevardnadze calling for more effective

measures to counter corruption (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 31

August 2001), parliament speaker Zurab Zhvania offered to

resign if 100 of the total 235 parliament deputies sign a

statement calling on him to do so, Caucasus Press reported on

7 September. Both opposition and SMK deputies rejected that

proposal (see "RFE/RL Caucasus Report," Vol. 4, No. 31, 10

September 2001). LF

[07] FORMER GEORGIAN COMMUNIST PARTY BOSS FORMS NEW POLITICAL

Djumber Patiashvili, who in 1985 succeeded

Shevardnadze as first secretary of the Communist Party of

Georgia and ran unsuccessfully against him in the

presidential elections of 1995 and 2000, has joined forces

with Aleksandre Chachia, who in 1999 headed a political party

intended to revive the west Georgian region of Mingrelia (see

"RFE/RL Caucasus Report," Vol. 2, No. 13, 31 March 1999), to

form the Unity alliance, Caucasus Press reported. Patiashvili

was elected chairman at the movement's founding congress in

Tbilisi on 7 September. He told journalists its objectives

are restoring Georgia's territorial integrity and promoting

social equality. LF

[08] OSCE TO EXPAND MONITORING OF GEORGIA'S BORDERS WITH NORTH

The OSCE has agreed "in principle" to a request by

the Georgian government to deploy observers on Georgia's

borders with Daghestan and Ingushetia, in addition to those

who since early last year have been posted along Georgia's

border with Chechnya, but the technical issues involved have

not yet been resolved, AP quoted Georgian Foreign Ministry

spokesman Kakha Sikharulidze as telling journalists in

Tbilisi on 7 September (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 1 March 2001).

Also on 7 September, new accommodation for the OSCE monitors

on the Georgian-Chechen border was opened in the village of

Shatili. LF

[09] AUDIT CHAMBER DETAILS FINANCIAL MISMANAGEMENT IN GEORGIAN

Following an audit of the Georgian Defense

Ministry's financial transactions during the first six months

of this year, the press service of Georgia's Audit Chamber

said on 7 September that the ministry currently owes some

42.7 million laris ($20.6 million), including 17.3 million

laris in wage arrears, Caucasus Press reported. Defense

Minister Davit Tevzadze told a parliament committee on 6

September that the armed forces need a minimum of 71 million

laris ($34.3 million) in funding for 2002 (see "RFE/RL

Newsline," 7 September 2001). Parliament deputy Koba

Amirkhanishvili said the same day he will resign his mandate

if the Finance Ministry does not accede to that demand,

"Akhali taoba" reported on 7 September. LF

[10] GEORGIA REGISTERS 5 PERCENT GDP GROWTH

increased by 5.4 percent during the first six months of 2001

compared with the corresponding period for last year,

Caucasus Press reported on 7 September, but industrial output

during the period January-July 2001 fell by 2.6 percent

compared with 2000. LF

[11] OSCE QUERIES LEGALITY OF SENTENCE ON FORMER KAZAKH PREMIER

7 September expressing doubt that the jail sentence handed

down the previous day to former Prime Minister Akezhan

Kazhegeldin conforms to international standards of justice,

Russian agencies reported. Kazhegeldin was sentenced in

absentia to 10 years imprisonment on charges of abuse of

office, tax evasion, taking bribes, and illegal possession of

weapons (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6 September 2001). The OSCE

noted that trying a defendant in absentia may violate the

principle of equality before the law, and that "there are

certain doubts" that the presumption of innocence was fully

observed during the trial. LF

[12] IMPRISONED FORMER KYRGYZ OFFICIAL TAKES LEGAL ACTION AGAINST

Former Kyrgyz Vice President and opposition Ar-

Namys Party leader Feliks Kulov has brought a lawsuit against

President Askar Akaev and is demanding that the president

publish an apology for branding him as a person who

"disappointed him" and "who loved power too much," RFE/RL's

Bishkek bureau reported on 8 September. That characterization

appears in Akaev's book "The Memorable Decade," which was

formally launched on 24 August. Kulov was sentenced in

January to seven years imprisonment on charges of abuse of

power while serving as national security minister in 1997-

1998 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 22 January 2001). LF

[13] NEW HUMAN RIGHTS MOVEMENT FOUNDED IN KYRGYZSTAN

and Communist parties, together with several NGOs, attended a

meeting in Bishkek on 8 September to mark the foundation of

the Independent Commission for Human Rights, RFE/RL's Bishkek

bureau reported. Recently released Erkindik party leader

Topchubek Turgunaliev was elected chairman of the commission.

LF

[14] MINISTER'S ASSASSINATION, BOMB BLAST CAST PALL OVER TAJIK

Tajikistan's Minister of Culture

Abdurahim Rahimov was shot dead outside his home in Dushanbe

early on 8 September by a lone gunman who then escaped. It

was the third such killing of a senior government official so

far this year (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 11 April and 18 July

2001). Law-enforcement officials described the shooting as "a

terrorist act," while President Imomali Rakhmonov condemned

the unknown perpetrators as "enemies of the Tajik people." On

9 September a young man was killed when a homemade bomb he

was carrying exploded some 500-1,000 meters away from a

stadium in Dushanbe where Rakhmonov and other senior

officials were attending festivities to mark the 10th

anniversary of Tajikistan's independence. LF

[15] IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER CUTS SHORT VISIT TO TAJIKISTAN

meeting and dinner with Rakhmonov on 7 September, saying that

unspecified "important matters" required his presence in

Tehran, AP reported the following day. Kharrazi was to have

met on 8 September with his Tajik counterpart Talbak Nazarov

and to have taken part in the independence day celebrations

the following day. During his 7 September meeting with

Rakhmonov, the two men discussed bilateral relations and the

situation in Afghanistan. LF

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[16] EU BACKS NEW PLAN FOR MACEDONIA...

Belgium, on 9 September, EU foreign ministers endorsed a

proposal by German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer to

provide an armed Western presence to protect OSCE monitors

after the end of NATO's Operation Essential Harvest on 26

September, RFE/RL reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7

September 2001). The force could be NATO-led but would

include Russian, Ukrainian, and other non-NATO forces.

Fischer stressed that "we must avoid a vacuum" after NATO's

arms-collection program is completed. His French counterpart

Hubert Vedrine said that "we cannot purely and simply leave"

after Operation Essential Harvest. Fischer noted that

Macedonia faces three potential threats: a security vacuum,

the rise of "a silent coalition of extremists on both sides,"

and an ethnic division of the small republic, Deutsche Welle

reported. The ministers agreed that the mission would be part

of a larger program that includes economic assistance. PM

[17] ...BUT NOT ON ITS FORM

Genval on 9 September agreed on Fischer's recommendations but

did not endorse any specific operational plan, "The

Independent" reported. Vedrine noted that the proposed EU

security and defense "arrangements" are not "quite ready

yet," and that consequently "it is more sensible, easier, and

more practical to act in a NATO framework." Some EU countries

-- notably Finland, Sweden, and Ireland -- feel that such a

mission should also have a UN mandate, but others -- such as

the U.K. -- argue that a UN-sponsored arrangement would "give

a lot of people the opportunity to make mischief," meaning

primarily Moscow and Beijing. Russian Foreign Minister Igor

Ivanov and Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski want a UN

mandate for any new force, such as the former UNPREDEP had.

On 10 September, Reuters quoted unnamed Macedonian government

"sources" as saying that the government would probably yield

to outside pressure and accept a long-term, foreign military

presence. An international donors conference is slated for 15

October. Ethnic Albanian guerrillas insist that they trust

only NATO. PM

[18] PUTIN, CHIRAC DISCUSS MACEDONIA

Reuters reported from Moscow on 10 September that French

President Jacques Chirac and his Russian counterpart Vladimir

Putin discussed Macedonia in a telephone conversation. It is

not clear which man initiated the contact. PM

[19] MACEDONIAN ALBANIANS RETURN HOME

from Macedonia have returned to that country from Kosova in

recent days at the Blace border crossing alone, RFE/RL's

South Slavic Service reported on 9 September. PM

[20] MOLOTOV COCKTAIL BLASTS SERBIAN POLITICIAN'S CAR

Vuksanovic, vice president of the Movement for Democratic

Serbia (PDS), with a Molotov cocktail in Belgrade on 7

September, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. The DPS is

part of the governing Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS)

coalition. Serbian Interior Minister Dusan Mihajlovic said

the next day that Vuksanovic had recently received telephone

threats urging him to stop working with Yugoslav President

Vojislav Kostunica. Mihajlovic stressed that the attack on

the car of Vuksanovic, who was elsewhere at the time, is part

of an ongoing campaign aimed at intimidating the public, and

must be stopped. Vuksanovic is a rival of Serbian Prime

Minister Zoran Djindjic. PM

[21] SERBIAN AUTHORITIES FIND ANOTHER MASS GRAVE

said in a statement on 9 September that they have found "26

unidentified bodies and body parts near Lake Perucac, not far

from the town of Uzice," AP reported from Belgrade. The

bodies are believed to be those of Kosova Albanians dumped in

the lake from a freezer truck in 1999. An unidentified police

official told the news agency that "after locals noticed

floating corpses in April 1999, the bodies...were removed

from the lake and transferred to a mass grave." This is but

the latest in a series of grisly discoveries by the Serbian

police since the ouster of former President Slobodan

Milosevic in October 2000 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 31 May

2001). PM

[22] ALBANIAN PRESIDENT APPROVES NEW CABINET

formally approved the 22-member government of Prime Minister

Ilir Meta in Tirana on 7 September, AP reported. The new

cabinet includes four carryovers from the previous one

including Interior Minister Ilir Gjoni, and Finance Minister

Anastas Angjeli. Arta Dade becomes Albania's first woman

foreign minister. Former Prime Minister Pandeli Majko

received the defense portfolio. PM

[23] ROMANIAN PREMIER EXPOUNDS ON AGREEMENT WITH IMF

Nastase and Neven Mates, chief IMF negotiator for Romania, on

7 September told journalists that the agreement included in

the "letter of intent" agreed upon earlier that day (see

"RFE/RL Newsline," 7 September 2001) provides for

accelerating the privatization program, reining in salaries

in the public sector, and adjusting electricity prices, AFP

reported. The agreement foresees a 22 percent annual

inflation rate, 5 percent economic growth, a 6 percent

deficit in the current account, and a 3 percent budget

deficit. Meanwhile, a study released on 7 September by the

Romanian Center for Economic Policy said that 31 percent of

Romania's GDP in 2000 was produced by underground economic

activity. A study conducted by the UN Development Program in

July estimated Romania's underground economy at between 20

and 30 percent of GDP. MS

[24] ROMANIA ENDS COMMEMORATION OF UNIFYING PRINCE

Iliescu, former King Michael, former President Emil

Constantinescu, as well as Premier Nastase and other

officials participated on 8 September in Targoviste in a

ceremony to unveil an equestrian statue of Prince Michael the

Brave, who briefly unified the three Romanian principalities

in 1601, Romanian radio reported. The ceremony marked the

ending of a series of events honoring Prince Michael on the

400th anniversary of his assassination. Iliescu said in his

speech that "no one should underestimate the virtues of the

Romanian people...whose historic destiny has not ended."

Former King Michael called for unity among Romanians in the

service of their country. MS

[25] ROMANIAN OFFICIAL SAYS ROYAL RESTITUTION CLAIM IS 'NO

n Among the officials who attended the ceremony in

Targoviste was Serban Mihailescu, secretary of the

government, who told journalists that the restitution of the

Peles castle to the former king "is not a priority for the

government" and that the cabinet has no intention to conduct

"special negotiations" with the former monarch on the

castle's restitution. Mihailescu added that a special

governmental office will be set up to deal with "unforeseen

problems" relating to restitution claims. He said some of the

property whose restitution is now demanded "has been

mortgaged." MS

[26] OSCE CONFERENCE ON ROMA DISCRIMINATION OPENS IN BUCHAREST

international conference held under OSCE auspices on the

struggle against discrimination of Roma opened in Bucharest

on 10 September, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. The

four-day conference is being attended by some 300

participants, including nongovernmental organizations working

with Roma and representatives of the community. Speaking in

his capacity as OSCE rotating chairman, Foreign Minister

Mircea Geoana on 9 September said the OSCE intends to "take a

series of concrete measures" to improve the Roma's situation

and added that solutions "necessitate an overall European

approach, beyond national efforts." MS

[27] ROMANIAN PREMIER SIGNALS CHANGE IN POLICY ON MOLDOVA

on 7 September reiterated his "dismay" at Moldova's

cancellation of a tender for the sale of two Moldovan

electricity companies on the grounds that one of them is

heavily indebted to Ukrainian electricity suppliers and its

shares may have to be taken over by the Ukrainian utility,

RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Nastase said that he

"wonders" whether Romania should use similar methods to

ensure the payment of the $32 million Moldova owes Romania

for electricity supplies. The Romanian premier said Romania

has provided $3.5 million for various projects in Moldova,

but does not know "where the money goes." Nastase said that

from now on, priority in relations with Moldova should be on

the economic aspects and particularly in bilateral

collaboration between border-adjacent counties. MS

[28] MOLDOVAN NEGOTIATORS IN KYIV RETURN EMPTY-HANDED

days of negotiations in Kyiv on the customs checkpoints

established by Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin on

Ukrainian territory, the Moldovan delegation headed by First

Deputy Premier Dimitrii Todoroglo on 7 September returned

home without having succeeded to obtain the accord of the

authorities in Kyiv, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. The

Ukrainian side is insisting that representatives of the

separatists take part in the negotiations. A new round of

parleys will be held on 11 September, also in Ukraine.

Moldovan Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev earlier said that Kyiv

had agreed to the joint customs posts but later ordered its

customs officers to detain the Moldovan customs officials if

they step on Ukrainian territory. Separatist leader Igor

Smirnov on 7 September met with the Ukrainian and Russian

ambassadors to Moldova as well as with the OSCE head of

mission William Hill, and reiterated that Chisinau is setting

up an "economic blockade" of the Transdniester by having

withdrawn permission from Tiraspol to use the Moldovan

customs seals. MS

[29] MOLDOVAN MAJOR DISMISSED FROM JCC

Commission on 7 September dismissed Major Iurie Cheibas from

the staff of the commission's military observers, RFE/RL's

Chisinau bureau reported. Cheibas was detained on 2 September

by the authorities in Tiraspol for having allegedly engaged

in spying activities during the celebrations of the

separatists' 11th independence anniversary. He was freed last

week on "humanitarian grounds." The commission's Russian

commander of the observer force said that an investigation

revealed that Cheibas had left his post without the knowledge

of his superiors and without their permission. Cheibas will

continue to serve in the Moldovan military forces. MS

[30] BULGARIAN FOREIGN MINISTER OPTIMISTIC ON NATO, EU MEMBERSHIP

on 7 September, said he believes "NATO would not make the

mistake of leaving the Balkans out of its future expansion."

Pasi said that "Bulgaria is fully prepared for NATO

membership. It acted as a de facto NATO ally during the

Kosovo crisis and ever since it has acted as a functioning

member of the alliance." Pasi also said that Bulgaria "has a

strong intention of completing EU talks in 2004 and joining

as a full member in 2006." Gaining NATO membership, he added,

would bolster Bulgaria's EU accession bid. Pasi acknowledged

that "Bulgaria has the image of a laggard," but said this

image "has to be overcome" and that it would be "fair to

recognize" that the country has "made significant progress in

the past few years." He also said that it would be more

"cost-effective" for the West to "invest in building

infrastructure in the Balkans, rather than having to sustain

numerous peacekeeping operations" as a result of ethnic

conflicts that arise due to "fragmentation, bad

infrastructure, and poverty." MS

[31] ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH SUPPORTS EFFORTS TO MEND BULGARIAN

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew II

on 8 September joined Patriarch Maxim in saying mass in

Sofia's Sveta Nedelya (St. Dominique) cathedral and said

afterward that he strongly supports the Bulgarian patriarch's

efforts to mend the rift in the country's Orthodox Church, AP

reported. The dispute began a decade ago, when dissenting

clergymen demanded that Maxim step down, accusing him of

having cooperated with the communist regime. Prime Minister

Simeon Saxecoburggotski attended the mass and consulted with

both patriarchs after the service. AP said Saxecoburggotski's

presence signals a turnaround in the government's policy

toward Maxim. Former Premier Ivan Kostov was at odds with

Maxim, silently supported his opponents, and refused to

attend masses served by him or by prelates under his

jurisdiction. MS

[32] BULGARIAN MUSLIM LEADER PRAISES COUNTRY'S TOLERANCE

Mufti Selim Mehmed, the spiritual leader of Bulgaria's Muslim

community on 8 September, praised that Balkan country for its

ethnic and religious tolerance amid a conflict-ridden region,

AP reported. Mehmed told journalists that "against the

background of everything happening in the Balkans, we, in

Bulgaria, have succeeded in building a model for ethnic and

religious tolerance and peace." He also said that "in

contrast to other countries, Muslims in Bulgaria are widely

open to the Eastern Orthodox community." At the same time,

Mehmed urged the government to speed up restitution of Muslim

community property. MS

[33] STATUE HONORING FORMER COMMUNIST LEADER REERECTED IN

Some 3,000 people on 7 September attended a

ceremony for the unveiling of a statue of Bulgaria's

communist leader Todor Zhivkov on what would have been his

90th birthday, AP reported. The statue was reerected on its

former site in Zhivkov's birthplace in Pravets, some 60

kilometers northeast of Sofia. The monument had been

dismantled at Zhivkov's own orders, after Soviet leader

Mikhail Gorbachev embarked on the perestroika course. MS

[C] END NOTE

[34] CZECH REPUBLIC MOVES TO ABOLISH CONSCRIPTION, JOINS EUROPEAN

By Jeremy Bransten

Since the fall of the Iron Curtain a decade ago,

countries across Europe have reduced the size of their armed

forces from 10 percent to as much as 50 percent.

Most military strategists no longer see the need for

large standing armies that are capable of repelling a massive

land invasion. Instead, the emphasis has shifted to having

smaller, more mobile units that can be rapidly deployed in

crisis situations.

The Czech Republic recently became the first former

Communist state in Europe to attempt to reform its armed

forces along these lines when the cabinet approved a bill

that will lead to a smaller, all-professional army in six

years.

For Dan Smith, a retired U.S. army colonel and currently

head of research at the Washington-based Center for Defense

Information, this shift makes perfect sense.

"Peace-keeping operations, peace enforcement,

humanitarian relief, the evacuation of citizens caught in

areas of crises, these are missions far different from the

old linear style of warfare," Smith said. "So, the premium is

really on being adaptable, being able to think on one's feet

and to recognize situations as they start to evolve. And

again, a well-trained professional force, I think, is better-

suited to these kinds of missions."

British-based military analyst Charles Heyman edits

Jane's World Armies, a biannual survey of global armed

forces. He points to another advantage of having professional

soldiers versus conscripts.

"If you want to involve yourself in out-of-area

operations and you want to put troops into Macedonia or

Kosovo or somewhere like that, then you need volunteers and

probably, the best people are professionals as opposed to

conscripts," Heyman said.

The new military thinking coincides with a growing

reluctance among young people in Europe to serve in the

military. Each year, more and more draft-age young men opt

for alternative civilian service. In Spain, to cite one

example, fully three quarters of those eligible for military

duty now choose this option.

These factors prompted Spain to announce the abolishing

of conscription less than two months ago. The country's last

draftees will be released from duty by the end of the year.

France is to follow the same course and end conscription by

November 2001. Italy will abandon its draft by the end of

2005. France's northern neighbors Belgium and the Netherlands

ended compulsory service in 1992 and 1996 respectively. They

in turn followed Britain's lead, which abolished conscription

back in 1962. The world's leading military superpower, the

United States, ended its call-up in 1973.

The Czechs, it seems, have joined a well-established

trend. In Western Europe, only Germany has stayed on the

sidelines of the conscription debate, continuing to see the

call-up as an important element of its inclusive, democratic

ethos.

Among the former Warsaw Pact states, the Czechs -- who

are now fully fledged NATO members -- are the first to

announce a definitive end to conscription.

But Timothy Edmunds, a military expert at King's College

in London, is not sure the Czech reform is the right course

to follow.

Edmunds said that NATO has been trying to sell a "one-

size-fits-all" model of military reform to Central and

Eastern European countries. And the post-Communist states,

driven by a desire to join the alliance, have been eager to

be seen to comply.

"NATO, or the West in general, has a very particular

model of what modern armed forces should look like and they

are all-volunteer, they are professional, they are flexible,

they are expeditionary and so on. And they've promoted this

model very, very strongly in Central and Eastern Europe,"

Edmunds said. "Now, I would argue that actually, in doing so,

they've not really considered the drivers and implications of

change in the Central and East European region and that

they've not necessarily got to grips with the facts that

perhaps Central European security and defense demands are

quite different to those pressures facing the UK or the

United States."

Although experts generally agree that in the long run

having an all-professional military ends up being cheaper

than a conscript army, the switch-over is costly.

Edmunds said budget-conscious Central and East European

states cannot meet those costs. Instead, in their attempt to

meet NATO's criteria, the Czechs, Poles, Hungarians, Baltic

states and others have created hybrid militaries, consisting

of a few professional elite units that are sent on prestige

peace-keeping missions abroad, while the bulk of the

military, made up of conscripts, suffers from under-funding.

Edmunds said the Czechs' announcement that they will fully

switch over to the Western, all-professional model is to a

large extent driven by politics rather than military or

budget considerations.

"Military reform has been driven by foreign policy

rather than by defense policy, so to an extent you see all

the military reform budget go into elite cadres that fulfill

this NATO idea of what a military should look like, almost as

a sort of down-payment on NATO accession and I would argue to

the detriment of the ability of the military to provide a

national defense role," Edmunds said.

In both Eastern and Western Europe, Edmunds said there

has been too little fundamental debate about what role a

country's military should perform in the post-Cold-War era.

The post-Communist states of Central and Eastern Europe,

because of budget constraints, may have to choose between

training only rapid reaction professional units, that could

be farmed out to NATO for specific missions but could not

assure full territorial defense, or maintaining a standing

conscript army capable only of territorial defense. They will

likely not be able to afford the luxury of both.

Edmunds said the rapid reaction model could work, but it

would require a major rethink by the alliance, whose

generals, while promoting the rapid reaction model, remain

wary of forsaking territorial armies.

"There is beginning to be a discussion in NATO about

appropriate military reform and in doing so, role

specialization among the Central and East Europeans. So

rather than trying to provide a traditional national army

that does everything, because of shrinking defense budgets

and so on, [the idea is] to try to provide a military

structure and a set of military institutions that can fulfill

particular roles within NATO very well and particular

alliance roles very well. But I think there's still a great

deal of discomfort, both within the military itself and

within NATO about the idea of giving up traditional military

roles."

Charles Heyman, of Jane's World Armies, notes that all

countries moving to smaller all-professional forces must bear

in mind that in times of crisis, it is essential to be able

to call on reserves.

"The Czechs always have to remember that you have to

have the ability to expand your army, overnight, in a crisis,

in an emergency," Heyman said.

In earlier days, the major crisis never came, but both

sides were theoretically prepared for it. Now, small-time

emergencies seem to crop up with increasing frequency but

they are less predictable. And national interests have become

murkier to define -- a tough brief for any military planner.

Jeremy Bransten is an RFE/RL correspondent.

10-09-01

Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
URL: http://www.rferl.org

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